Disability Living Allowance: Partially Sighted

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2008,  Official Report, column 61W, on disability living allowance: partially sighted, if he will include severe sight loss as a criteria for qualifying for the higher-rate mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance.

Anne McGuire: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock), on 8 January 2008,  Official Report, column 434W.

Lone Parents: Employment

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to help single parents who are in employment to gain the skills to make progress in the workplace.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	We have a range of measures to ensure that everyone in the work force, including lone parents, has the opportunity to realise their potential and progress in their careers.
	Train to Gain is the Government's premier service to employers helping them to improve business performance by investing in the skills of all of their employees. Employers can access full public funding for employees who undertake skills for life or a first full Level 2 qualification as well as subsidies to aid individuals progress onto higher level skills.
	Individuals on a low income undertaking full time learning for their first full Level 2 or first full Level 3 qualification are eligible for the Adult Learning Grant. This pays adults (aged 19 plus) up to £30 per week, during term time to help with additional costs of learning (for example; books and travel). Adults can also access free information and advice about learning, work and careers through the national learndirect telephone and online advice service and local nextstep face-to-face service.
	By 2010-11 we aim to create an adult advancement and careers service which will help people to progress their careers. We will also work with partners to develop a joined up advice service covering issues such as housing, employment rights, child care, financial and personal advice and support as well as jobs and skills.

Pension Service: Disability and Carer's Service

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the likely effect on his Department's expenditure for the Department in each year until 2025 of merging the Pension Service and the Disability and Carer's Service.

Mike O'Brien: The Department's three Year Business Plan for 2008-11 will be published on 28 February 2008, and will be placed in the Library. These will include information about the Department's spending on administration over that period. The business plan for the new Pension, Disability and Carers Service Agency will be published ready for its launch on 1 April 2008, and will contain information about resources.
	The merging of The Pension Service and the Disability and Carers Service will create an opportunity to streamline elements of existing functions, particularly in senior management and internal support services, allowing more resource to be redirected to front-line customer service than would have been possible without the merger. Detailed plans have yet to be drawn up about the size and phasing of this redirection.
	The merger itself is not expected to have an impact on expenditure on state benefits (Annually Managed Expenditure (AME)). Levels of benefit expenditure are driven principally by demography and benefit policy. It is not expected that the new Agency will execute policy in a way that will change expenditure levels from what they would have been under two separate agencies.

Pension Service: Manpower

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of staff in the Pension Service and the Disability and Carer's Service in each year until 2018.

Mike O'Brien: No estimates of workforce plans to 2018 have been drawn up. The Department's three Year Business Plans for 2008-11 will be published on 28 February 2008, and will be placed in the Library. The business plan for the new Pension, Disability and Carers Service Agency will be published ready for its launch on 1 April 2008, and will contain information about resources

Departmental Manpower

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of his Department's staff are employed within each salary band; what the title and role of each position within each salary band is; and for each salary band what the  (a) bonus structure,  (b) retirement provision,  (c) expenses provision,  (d) total expenses incurred in each of the last 10 years,  (e) average age of employee,  (f) number of (i) women and (ii) men and  (g) ethnic composition is.

Anne McGuire: The information is as follows:
	 1. Number and proportion of Department for Work and Pension (DWP) staff e mployed within each salary band
	The following table shows the number of staff employed by DWP at September 2007.
	
		
			  Civil service grade  Total staff  Percentage of staff by grade 
			 SCS 293 0.28 
			 Grade 6 621 0.5 
			 Grade 7 1,470 1.41 
			 SEO 2,699 2.58 
			 HEO 7,552 7.21 
			 EO 37,469 35.79 
			 AO 49,072 46.87 
			 AA 5,511 5.27 
			 DWP Total 104,687 100 
			  Notes: 1. The numbers shown are whole time equivalent (WTE). 2. The data does not include the Rent Service or the Health and Safety Executive. 3. Temporary staff are not included 
		
	
	 2. The title and role of each p osition within each salary band
	The Department's HR data is compiled using definitions and standards provided by the Office for National Statistics from their Annual Civil Service Employment Survey September 2007.
	Each role within every salary band/grade in the Department can be categorised in accordance with the Professional Skills for Government (PSG) career groupings as follows:
	
		
			  PSG career grouping  Profession 
			 Corporate Service Delivery Communications/Marketing 
			  Finance 
			  Human Resources 
			  Information Technology 
			  Legal 
			  Other 
			  Procurement 
			   
			 Operational Delivery Operational Delivery 
			   
			 Policy delivery Policy Delivery 
		
	
	It would be disproportionately costly to collate information about the specific title and role of every position in DWP.
	 3. The bonus structure for each salary band
	 (a) Junior Bonus Structure
	DWP employees in pay bands below SCS are eligible for an annual individual performance bonus if they attain a 'top', 'higher' or 'majority' rating under the annual performance and development system (PDS). There is a guided distribution for performance ratings awarded through PDS which is top 15-20 per cent., higher 30-35 per cent., majority 40-45 per cent. and lower 3-8 per cent. The amount of bonus awarded is differentiated on the basis of the employee's pay band and the performance level achieved.
	 (b) SCS Bonus Structure
	The structure for bonuses for the SCS pay bands 1, 2 and 3 is set out in the recommendations from the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) and the Government's response to those recommendations.
	Pay band 1 and 2 (excluding Executive team) individual bonuses are awarded by the DWP SCS Pay Committee on the recommendation of line managers, based on the level of success with which an SCS member has met their in-year objectives, and relative to all others in their pay band.
	Executive team bonuses are awarded by the DWP Remuneration Committee and currently comprise two elements; 80 per cent. of the overall bonus cost envelope for individual bonus (on the same basis as SCS PB1 and 2), and 20 per cent. dependant on the assessment of DWP performance overall.
	 4. The retirement provision for each salary band
	DWP has no mandatory retirement age for grades below SCS and subject to satisfactory performance and a requirement for their services, allows employees to choose how long they want to remain in work. For the SCS, the mandatory retirement age is 65.
	DWP offers all employees, regardless of grade, an occupational pension scheme when they join the Department. Employees have the choice of a career earnings scheme or a partnership scheme that provides pension benefits based on contributions made.
	 5. The expenses provision for each salary band
	Where extra costs are incurred by individuals in connection with their work for the Department expenses are paid against the following categories:
	Travel including public transport costs, private mileage for use of own car where appropriate.
	Subsistence to covering meals and potential extra costs for being away from normal place of work—including day and overnight rates and hotel costs.
	Miscellaneous expenses such as those incurred in connection with permanent transfers and selection interviews.
	 6. Total expenses incurred in each of the last 10 years for each salary band
	Total expenses incurred in each of the past two years is as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2005-06 85.1 
			 2006-07 91.9 
		
	
	The figure for 2006-07 represents approximately 2.9 per cent. of total staff costs.
	Information is not available for each salary band nor, other than at disproportionate cost, prior to 2005-06. The figures provided do not include the Rent Service or the Health and Safety Executive.
	 7. Average age of employee and number of (i) women and (ii) men in each salary band
	The following table shows the breakdown of staff at September 2007.
	
		
			  Civil service grade  Men  Women  Total  Average age (years) 
			 SCS 189 104 293 46.10 
			 Grade 6 359 262 621 45.75 
			 Grade 7 811 660 1,471 42.53 
			 SEO 1,255 1,444 2,699 44.10 
			 HEO 3,011 4,540 7,551 42.96 
			 EO 12,627 24,842 37,469 43.16 
			 AO 15,049 34,024 49,973 40.79 
			 AA 2,164 3,346 5,510 41.85 
			 DWP Total 35,465 69,222 104,687 42.32 
			  Notes: 1. The numbers shown are whole time equivalent (WTE). 2. The data does not include the Rent Service or the Health and Safety Executive. 3. Temporary staff are not included. 
		
	
	 8. Ethnic composition
	The following table shows the ethnic mix of DWP staff by grade as at September 2007.
	
		
			  Ethnic  SCS  Grade 6  Grade 7  SEO  HEO  EO  AO  AA 
			 Asian and White * * 6 5 22 86 141 17 
			 Asian (Bangladeshi) * * * * 12 94 189 17 
			 Asian (Indian) * * 13 29 114 999 1,493 209 
			 Asian (Other Origin) * * * 11 22 230 335 41 
			 Asian (Pakistani) * * * * 21 217 648 67 
			 Black (African) * * * 8 37 323 403 35 
			 Black (Caribbean) * * * 18 69 676 709 66 
			 Black (Other Origin) * * * * 5 84 85 11 
			 Black African and White * * * * 5 26 57 8 
			 Black Caribbean and White * * * * 12 70 112 9 
			 Chinese * * * * 5 38 83 11 
			 Mixed Ethnicity (Other) * * 5 * 17 113 174 16 
			 Other Ethnic Origin * * * 11 50 245 318 37 
			 White 220 486 1,171 2,224 6,197 29,850 4,231 4,988 
			  Notes: 1. Numbers less than 5 have been replaced with (*) because we cannot disclose the information due to protocols which are in place to protect personal information. 2. The numbers in the table show the ethnicity of those staff that have declared their ethnic origin. Not all DWP employees have chosen to do so and therefore the numbers do not add up to the total DWP work force. 3. Temporary staff are not included. 4 The data does not include the Rent Service or the Health and Safety Executive.

Disability Living Allowance: Sight Impaired

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) blind and  (b) partially sighted people are claiming disability living allowance mobility component.

Anne McGuire: The Information is not available in the format requested. At May 2007 there were 61,420 people in receipt of the mobility component in disability living allowance whose main disabling condition was that they were blind or they were deaf and blind.

Housing Benefit

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people had their  (a) housing benefit and  (b) council tax benefit claim backdated by more than three months in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much was spent on backdating of  (a) housing benefit and  (b) council tax benefit claims for those whose claims were backdated by (i) less than three months and (ii) three months or more in each of the last five years.

James Plaskitt: Prior to April 2007 no information was collected from local authorities on the number of people or the amount of backdating paid out to housing benefit and council tax benefit claimants.
	Following the introduction of a new data source, this information will become available in the future but at the moment there is insufficient data to estimate the number of people or the amount spent on backdating.

Incapacity Benefit

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of applicants for incapacity benefit underwent a face-to-face assessment as part of the process to approve their claim in each year since 1997.

Anne McGuire: Information about the proportion of applicants for incapacity benefits who underwent a face to face assessment and data prior to September 1998 is not available. The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of medical examinations for incapacity benefits 
			   Number 
			 1 September 1998 to March 1999 330,551 
			 April 1999 to March 2000 450,962 
			 April 2000 to March 2001 374,140 
			 April 2001 to March 200 485,221 
			 April 2002 to March 2003 520,419 
			 April 2003 to March 2004 497,614 
			 April 2004 to March 2005 457,410 
			 April 2005 to March 2006 493,907 
			 April 2006 to March 2007 507,695 
			 April 2007 to 30 November 2007 362,773 
			  Notes:  1. The figures cover recipients in all age groups.  2. The figures represent all medical examinations and include repeat assessments—not just assessments for new claims.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if an applicant for job seeker's allowance (JSA) is to be fast-tracked onto the new gateway from day one of their application, what duration that applicant must have spent previously claiming JSA.

James Plaskitt: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 10 January 2008,  Official Report, column 718W.

Occupational Pensions

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the aggregate size of contributions to pension funds was in each year since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is as follows.
	
		
			  Total contributions to private pension schemes, 1997 to 2005 
			   Total contributions to pension schemes (£ billion) 
			 1997 38.8 
			 1998 41.2 
			 1999 44.0 
			 2000 47.4 
			 2001 49.0 
			 2002 54.4 
			 2003 62.5 
			 2004 67.6 
			 2005 75.5 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are estimates for the United Kingdom. 2005 is the latest year for which the data is available. 2. The answer covers funded occupational schemes, unfunded occupational schemes, and personal pension schemes. 3. Total pension contributions include both employee and employer contributions.  Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Pension Credit: Greater London

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in each London constituency did not take up their entitlement to pension credit in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: Estimates of eligibility and take-up are not available below the level of Great Britain. It is not therefore possible to say how many people are eligible for pension credit and of those how many did not take up their entitlement in each London constituency.
	Latest estimates of take-up rates and the number of pensioners who were entitled but not claiming pension credit in Great Britain were published in the "Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2005/06" report. A copy of this report is available in the Library.

Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners receive  (a) the basic state pension alone and  (b) the basic state pension and pension credits.

Mike O'Brien: 9,327,800 pensioners receive state pension and 2,360,900 receive the state pension and pension credit.
	 Notes
	1. Data is taken from 5 per cent. extracts of the Pensions Strategy Computer System and Income Support Computer System, therefore figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall caseload from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.
	2. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
	3. State pension awards include those receiving basic state pension, inherited basic state pension and basic state pension plus additional pension and/or graduated retirement benefit. The figures do not include those receiving only additional pension and/or graduated retirement benefit.
	4. Pension credit awards include Guarantee Credit only, Guarantee Credit and Savings Credit and Savings Credit only
	5. Includes state pension overseas cases.
	6. State pension data for March 2007 has been merged with pension credit data for May 2007 to provide an estimated number getting both benefits. This method is consistent with that used to produce the 5 per cent. Client Group Analysis data.
	 Source
	5 per cent. sample, DWP Information Directorate.

Pensions

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the percentage of pensioners who will retire in the 2007-08 fiscal year and are enrolled in an  (a) final salary scheme and  (b) defined contribution scheme.

Mike O'Brien: The Information is not available in the format requested.

Pensions: Insolvency

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the number of companies which face increases in their annual payments to the Pension Protection Fund as a result of their overturned appeals against its levy.

Mike O'Brien: The Board of Pension Protection Fund (PPF) is responsible for the calculation of the Pension Protection Levy and is required by law to publish in advance the rules it has determined for calculating the levy for each financial year. No eligible scheme is required to pay more than the amount correctly calculated in accordance with the rules determined by the board.
	Eligible schemes may use a statutory appeals process to challenge whether an individual levy invoice has been calculated correctly, in accordance with the rules and using the relevant scheme data. As at 31 November 2007, 3,520 invoices have been issued to eligible schemes. Of these 3,520 invoices issued, less than 1 per cent. of schemes (34) had applied for their 2007-08 invoice to be formally reviewed by the PPF. 25 of the applications met the criteria for a review. Nine did not meet these criteria for a number of reasons, including not meeting the 28 day deadline for querying a levy invoice. 10 reviews have been completed. One application for review was successful, resulting in a revised invoice being issued. In nine cases the original invoice was found to be in accordance with the published rules. 15 appeals await completion of the review process. No scheme has been re-invoiced for a higher amount for 2007-08 as a result of an overturned appeal.
	Schemes may apply to the Pension Protection Fund Ombudsman if they are dissatisfied with the decision of the PPF's Reconsideration Committee. No applications have been received by the PPFO for 2007-08.

Pensions: Wales

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many residents of Wales had cases managed by the Pension Service's Newcastle office in the last 12 month period for which figures are available.

Mike O'Brien: All new claims to state pension and pension credit in the last 12 months for residents in Wales have been managed by Swansea Pension Centre.
	However National Pension Centre in Newcastle currently manages a caseload of approximately 4.2 million state pension customers. Included in this are 180,000 residents of Wales, all of these cases are historically over 12 months old. National Pension Centre is also responsible nationally for cases requiring specialist action. They own these cases for the duration of the action and currently there are 1,638 cases that reside in Wales.
	All the statistics are current as of October 2007.

State Retirement Pensions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people were underpaid their state pension in each of the last five years; and how many people complained about such underpayments in each year;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the total amount underpaid to recipients of the state pension in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many people have been refused the payment of money underpaid but due to them for their state pension as a result of a complaint taking place outside the one year guideline period since 2001.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 3 December 2007
	The information on the number of people who have been underpaid State Pension in the last five years is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department derives annual estimates of the amount of State Pension that is underpaid due to official error through examination of a random sample of cases. The sample is a small one, and as a result the estimates have wide margins of error. As such the estimates should not be used to draw conclusions about changes over time in the level of underpayments. They do allow us to say with confidence that the level has remained very low as a percentage of State Pension expenditure over the last five years.
	Estimates of underpayments of State Pension for the last five years are in the following table.
	
		
			   Underpayments (£ million)  Underpayments as a percentage of expenditure 
			 2006-07 80 0.2 
			 2005-06 60 0.1 
			 2004-05 70 0.1 
			 2003-04 20 0.0 
			 2002-03 80 0.2 
			  Notes: 1. Monetary estimates are rounded to the nearest £10 million.  2. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1 per cent.  Data Source:  The State Pension Monetary Value of Error Exercise 
		
	
	Complaints data is not separated by individual benefit type and the categories used do not draw out underpaid benefit as a complaint type. We are, however, looking to rectify this in a planned change to our complaints database over the next three months.
	Specifically, where it is discovered that a person has been underpaid State Pension as a result of an error in the original calculation of their entitlement, arrears of pension are paid from the date from which the person first became entitled. Compensation is considered under the terms of the Departmental Guide to Financial Redress for Misadministration, a copy of which is available in the Library.
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2003/frm/

Winter Fuel Payments: Hendon

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Hendon were  (a) entitled to receive and  (b) have received winter fuel payments in 2007; how many received the over 80s rate of £300; what additional cold weather payments are available to those on pension credit; how many pensioners in Hendon received such additional payments in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: It is not possible to say how many people in Hendon are entitled to receive a winter fuel payment. This is because not everyone aged 60 or over will be entitled to a payment. A person is not entitled to a winter fuel payment if, for example, they are serving a custodial sentence or have been in hospital for more than 52 weeks. Figures for payments made this winter are not yet available. In winter 2006-07 we made 17,760 winter fuel payments to people in the Hendon constituency and of these 4,090 went to people aged 80 or over, we expect the figures for this winter to be similar.
	Cold weather payments provide extra help towards heating costs for the poorest and most vulnerable members of our society, including pensioners receiving pension credit, in periods of exceptionally cold weather.
	A cold weather payment of £8.50 is made automatically to people awarded pension credit when the average temperature is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0 degrees Celsius or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to the customer's postcode. Savings are not taken into account and cold weather payments are paid in addition to winter fuel payments.
	No pensioners in Hendon have received a cold weather payment in the last 12 months as the temperature criterion has not been met.

Elderly: Ministerial Responsibility

Margaret Moran: To ask the Prime Minister if he will appoint a Minister for Older People; and if he will bring forward proposals to appoint a Commissioner for Older People.

Gordon Brown: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is responsible in this area at Cabinet level and has responsibility for delivering the agenda across Government. The Government have set a public service agreement (PSA) target to "Tackle poverty and promote greater independence and well-being in later life." This is the first time that Government have set a PSA target specifically for older people. It complements other PSAs on, for example, health care and employment that address key concerns for those over 50. Work to deliver this PSA target is being taken forward by a number of Departments.
	There is currently no plan to appoint a UK Commission for older people.

Sustainable Development: Transport

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with  (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and  (b) the Secretary of State for Transport to ensure that part of the new funding of £140 million to promote walking and cycling is made available to the devolved administrations of the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Murphy: I have regular discussions with all members of the Cabinet.
	The funding made available to promote cycling and walking in England by the Department for Transport has come from the existing comprehensive spending review settlement for that department. The settlements for the devolved administrations were determined by the application of the Barnett formula in the normal way.

Departmental Visits Abroad

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many overseas visits by officials in his Department took place in each of the last 10 years; which countries were visited; and how much was spent on such visits in each such year.

Kevin Brennan: Details of overseas visits by officials over the last seven financial years are set out as follows:
	
		
			  Financial year  Number of visits  Cost (£) 
			 2001-02 226 138,964 
			 2002-03 375 240,768 
			 2003-04 423 197,297 
			 2004-05 398 167,675 
			 2005-06 455 251,630 
			 2006-07 405 251,328 
			 2007-31 January 2008 164 189,277 
		
	
	The countries visited are:
	Algeria
	Armenia
	Australia
	Austria
	Belgium
	Bosnia Herzegovina
	Botswana
	Bulgaria
	Canada
	Chile
	China
	Croatia
	Cyprus
	Czech Republic
	Denmark
	Egypt
	Estonia
	Finland
	France
	Germany
	Ghana
	Greece
	Hong Kong
	Hungary
	Iceland
	India
	Israel
	Italy
	Japan
	Jordan
	Kenya
	Koran Republic
	Latvia
	Lithuania
	Luxembourg
	Malaysia
	Malta
	Mauritius
	Mexico
	Morocco
	Namibia
	Netherlands
	New Zealand
	Norway
	Oman
	Pakistan
	Poland
	Portugal
	Qatar
	Romania
	Russia
	Rwanda
	Sandi Arabia
	Serbia
	Seychelles
	Sierra Leone
	Singapore
	Slovakia
	Slovenia
	South Africa
	Spain
	Sweden
	Switzerland
	Thailand
	Turkey
	Ukraine
	United Arab Emirates
	USA.

Extended Schools

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil of 21 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 849-51W, on extended schools, what the equivalent data is for the Wirral.

Beverley Hughes: In 2008-09 to 2010-11 a total of £1.3 billion of funding will be made available nationally to support the development of extended schools. The allocations for the Wirral are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Extended schools funding 2008-2011 ,  Wirral LA 
			   2008-09 (£)  2009-10 (£)  2010-11 (£)  Total CSR period (£ million) 
			  
			 Start Up 1,182,041 1,215,524 499,875 2,897,440 
			 Sustainability 470,744 861,429 1,213,686 2,545,859 
			 Extended Schools Subsidy Scheme — — — — 
			 Academic-Focused Study Support (1)— — — — 
			 Total Extended Schools Revenue 1,652,785 2,076,953 1,713,561 5,443,299 
			 Total Extended Schools Capital 550,038 582,778 301,211 1,434,027 
			 Total Extended Schools Revenue and Capital 2,202,823 2,659,731 2,014,772 6,877,326 
			 (1) Funding not available until 2009-10 
		
	
	The Department has announced the individual local authority allocations for the next three years for the start-up, sustainability and capital funding streams. The Government have not yet announced the individual local authority allocations for the extended schools subsidy and the academic focused study support funding.
	As my answer to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) of 21 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 849-51W, explained, information is not collected centrally on the number of schools which charge parents for their children to attend extended activities, and what the levels of charges are.

Post Office Closures

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent assessment he has made of the effect of post office closures on local economies.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the effects of post office closures on local economies.

Patrick McFadden: The Government have asked Post Office Ltd., in drawing up its proposals for post office closures to consider a range of local socio-economic factors including the impact on local economies and availability of public transport.
	Assessment of the local impact of the proposed closure of specific individual post offices is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd., with input from Postwatch, in developing its area plan proposals and consulting locally on them.

Regulatory Reform

Andrew MacKay: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what plans he has for further regulatory reform.

Patrick McFadden: The Government have one of the most respected regulatory reform programmes in the world, focused on improving regulatory outcomes while reducing unnecessary burdens. Our focus is on ensuring this programme delivers effectively.
	The Simplification Plans that departments published in December 2007 showed that Government had delivered £800 million of annual savings for business through these plans.

Wind Farms

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what account he takes of local opinion in determining applications for on-shore wind farms; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The Secretary of State takes all representations into account before reaching a decision. Where a local authority, on behalf of the local community, objects to an onshore wind farm application within its boundaries, the Secretary of State is obliged to call a public inquiry. The Secretary of State can also call a discretionary public inquiry in the light of other objections.

Lending

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he is taking to prevent unscrupulous lending practices.

Gareth Thomas: I am committed to tackling unscrupulous loan sharks who exploit vulnerable people in our poorest communities. In 2004 we established two pilot enforcement teams in Birmingham and Glasgow to track down and prosecute illegal money lenders.
	Following evaluation of the pilots I announced £2.8 million in September for a national crack down on illegal lending. There's now a team in every region of Britain and we have committed to fund this work through the next spending period.

E-mail and Postal Fraud

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department is taking to prevent e-mail and postal fraud.

Patrick McFadden: The Government set out their consumer strategy in their publication "A Fair Deal for All". The strategy recognises that enforcement needs to be more effective at stopping those that deliberately set out to defraud consumers, often targeting the most vulnerable. The Office of Fair Trading takes the lead on tackling scams conducted through mass mailings which pose a serious problem for unwary consumers.
	Many ISPs are taking active steps to prevent bad traffic reaching their customers and many have spam email boxes which enable their customers to complain about specific emails. Both Government and Ofcom are talking to the ISPs about how we might improve standards across the sector and how those improvements might be made more visible to end users. These discussions now need to reflect the recently published proposals from the European Commission regarding the review of the telecoms regulatory framework and which include recommendations designed to reduce the impact of spam.

Renewable Energy

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the merits of feed-in tariffs in encouraging local generation of renewable energy.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government are absolutely committed to the renewables obligation as a market-based mechanism to deliver renewable energy to the UK.
	We are now proposing a new renewable energy strategy and we are developing that within BERR. We will be consulting in the early summer and we will be looking afresh at microgeneration and any proposals to boost microgeneration, including a feed-in tariff arrangement.
	I want to make it clear that fresh look at microgeneration is not at all challenging the mainstream renewables obligation which we think is fit for purpose.

Departmental Secondment

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many secondments of staff were made  (a) to and  (b) from his Department in each year since 1997; which organisations staff were seconded (i) to and (ii) from; how many staff were seconded in each year; for how long each secondment lasted; and what the cost was of each secondment in each year.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform welcome opportunities to promote and exchange best practice with organisations outside Government by way of secondments.
	The details of departmental inward and outward secondments between 1997 and 2005 have been placed in the Libraries of the House. Details of costs are not available. Responsibility for collating details of inward and outward secondments was devolved to departmental groups in 2006 and records from this period are not held centrally. However, in October 2007 departmental groups reported that there were 25 secondees working in BERR from non Government Departments. A list of these is also being placed in the Libraries of the House.

Iraq: War Crimes

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Government has received any requests from the International Criminal Court for UK military personnel to stand trial there for an alleged war crime in Iraq.

Des Browne: No requests have been received from the International Criminal Court.

Domestic Violence

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what funding is being provided from the public purse for organisations supporting those affected by domestic violence in 2008-09.

Barbara Follett: It is not possible to forecast accurately how much public money will be spent in 2008-09 on organisations supporting those affected by domestic violence, as support is provided through a mixture of central and local government funding.
	The Supporting People programme provides the main source of public funding for housing related support in England. This programme is delivered at a local level and decisions on how much money is spent on services for those affected by domestic violence, or other services, are made by the top tier local authorities, based on a local needs assessment. The 2008-09 allocations for Supporting People amount to £1.686 billion. We do know that top tier local authorities spent £59,333,258 on services for those affected by domestic violence in 2005-06, and £61,645,319 in 2006-07.
	In 2008-09 the Calderdale Women's Centre will receive £177,659 to support its work in identifying and supporting women experiencing chronic social exclusion as a result of domestic violence. This money will be made available through the Adults facing Chronic Exclusion Programme, which is funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Home Office, Department of Health and Department for Work and Pensions.
	The Ministry of Justice has allocated £3 million per year over the three years from 2008-07 for Independent Domestic Violence Advisers, whose aim is the safety and support of victims and their children. This is in addition to annual court business costs.
	Finally, the Home Office is investing over £20 million over the next three years on tackling violent crime, including domestic violence. Part of this funding will be used to fund multi-agency work to support victims of domestic violence.

Departmental Homeworking

David Simpson: To ask the Leader of the House how many people in her Office have been authorised to work from home in the last 12 months.

Harriet Harman: Following the Machinery of Government changes in May 2007, the Leader of the House of Commons office now forms part of the Cabinet Office.
	Staff and managers are able to consider various forms of flexible working, including home working. Arrangements for home working are made locally by individual line managers and no record is held.

Departmental Travel

Philip Hammond: To ask the Leader of the House how much staff of each grade in her Office spent on first class travel in the last 12 month period for which information is available.

Harriet Harman: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Grade  Cost of first class travel (£) 
			 B2 366

Drinking Water

John Spellar: To ask the Leader of the House how much her Office spent on bottled water in the latest year for which figures are available.

Harriet Harman: The Leader of the House of Commons Office forms part of the Cabinet Office. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster will be answering this question shortly on behalf of the Cabinet Office.

Electoral Register: Commonwealth

Richard Shepherd: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission whether the Electoral Commission has provided advice to the Government on updating Electoral Registration form, RP12, on the legal residency qualifications necessary for Commonwealth citizens to register.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has not advised Government on the content of the form, sometimes referred to as RP12, which is used to apply for electoral registration outside the annual canvass period. I am advised that this form is not statutory and individual electoral registration officers design their own forms. The Commission last advised the Government on the contents of the annual electoral registration form in 2006. At that time, the Commission had no comments to make on the presentation of the qualifications for registration on the form.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many receptions were held at Dover House in each of the last five years.

David Cairns: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 July 2007,  Official Report, column 188W. Scotland Office records of events held at Dover house are recorded in financial years rather than calendar years. In financial year 2007-08 there have been 20 receptions held in Dover house thus far, 16 third party and four funded by the Scotland Office. I am pleased to inform the hon. Member that members of the Liberal Democrats in both houses have taken the opportunity to interact with a range of individuals and organisations by frequent attendance at these receptions.

Departmental Pay

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by Senior Civil Service staff in his Department and its agencies in the last 12 month period for which figures are available.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office paid £1,759.60 of reimbursable expenses to Senior Civil Service staff in 2006-07.

Chevening Scholarship Programme

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2008,  Official Report, columns 1850-1W, on the Chevening scholarship programme, which countries he has identified as key countries of interest for the purposes of the programme.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 28 February 2008
	The key countries of interest to us in achieving our policy objectives, to which Chevening scholarships are primarily targeted, are:
	1. China
	2. India
	3. Indonesia
	4. Brazil
	5. Russia
	6. Nigeria
	7. Egypt
	8. Pakistan
	9. Iraq
	10. Turkey
	11. Mexico
	12. Malaysia
	13. South africa
	14. Iran
	15. Hong kong
	16. Zimbabwe
	17. Afghanistan
	18. Ukraine
	19. Syria
	20. Korea (South)

Falkland Islands: Oil

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment the Government has made of the potential contribution of oil and gas from Falkland Islands waters to the provision of energy in the UK; and whether it is taking steps to support such exploration.

Kim Howells: While oil companies have produced promising seismic data surveys, only further exploratory drilling will enable us to arrive at a dependable estimate on the size of the reserves of oil and gas in Falkland Islands waters. It is therefore not possible to currently assess any potential reserves.
	The Government remain committed to the offshore prospecting policy pursued by the Falkland Islands Government.

Foreign Relations

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the state of relations between the UK and the governments of  (a) Gibraltar,  (b) the Falklands,  (c) the British Virgin Islands,  (d) the Cayman Islands and  (e) the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Meg Munn: Relations between the UK and the Governments of Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands are generally very good.
	On 4 to 5 December 2007 elected leaders from the Falkland Islands, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands and a number of other Overseas Territories attended the ninth Overseas Territories Consultative Council in London which I chaired. The council held discussions on issues which included constitutional modernisation, human rights, criminal justice and disaster preparedness.
	I visited the Cayman Islands on 13 to 14 December 2007 where I met members of Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly, and took part in discussions on a wide range of issues. I also visited the Falkland Islands from 3 to 5 January and met a wide range of people from government, business and civil society.
	In June 2007 a new constitution came into force in the British Virgin Islands. The new constitution is an important step forward for the territory and includes provisions devolving significant powers to the British Virgin Islands Government.
	In January 2007 the new Gibraltar constitution came into force which followed the people of Gibraltar's decision to accept the constitution in a referendum in 2006. The new constitution provides for a modern relationship between Gibraltar and the UK. We also work closely with Gibraltar in relation to matters associated with the Trilateral Forum of Dialogue on Gibraltar.

Iran: Racial Discrimination

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Iranian government on the persecution of Jewish people in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: holding answer 28 February 2008
	Judaism is one of the three minority religions officially recognised under the Iranian Constitution. While we do have general concerns about freedom of religion and belief in Iran, we understand that the Jewish community has relatively good relations with the wider Muslim community in Iran. The Iranian Jewish community does face some institutional discrimination, but we do not believe that the community faces systematic persecution. We continue to monitor the situation closely and officials in Tehran and London regularly meet representatives of the Jewish community to discuss the situation of Jewish people in Iran. In December 2007 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution about human rights in Iran. The resolution, which was co-sponsored by the UK and all other EU member states, acknowledged and expressed concern at the situation of religious and ethnic minorities in Iran. We will continue to make clear to the Iranian authorities that persecution of individuals on the grounds of their religious beliefs is unacceptable and contrary to Iran's international human rights obligations, and that the rights of Iran's religious minorities should be equal to those of all Iranian citizens.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions  (a) he,  (b) Ministers in his Department and  (c) officials in his Department have had with the (i) government of Israel and (ii) Arab states on rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The UK is deeply concerned by rocket attacks against Israeli citizens from Gaza. Since Hamas seized control of Gaza, over 2,400 mortars and rockets have been fired into Israel. The launching of rockets against Israeli civilian targets and all forms of violence must stop. Violence serves only to undermine the prospects for peace in the region.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has regular discussions on the security situation in Gaza. He discussed this issue most recently with Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit on 19 February, with Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Bashr on 13 February, with the Israeli Ambassador to London on 29 January and with Israeli Foreign Minister Livni on 24 January. I also met the Israeli Ambassador on 17 January and discussed this issue. Our Embassy in Tel Aviv and our Consulate in Jerusalem regularly meet with Israeli and Palestinian interlocutors to discuss Gaza security.

Romania: EU External Relations

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the preparedness of  (a) Romania and  (b) Bulgaria to implement EU legislation, with particular regard to social security provisions and the acceptance of contributions from nationals of other EU states; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: In order to join the EU, Bulgaria and Romania fulfilled the criteria of accession agreed by the European Council in Copenhagen in 1993. The 'Copenhagen Criteria' includes the adoption of the "acquis communautaire" (the entire body of European legislation). No assessments have been done by HM Revenue and Customs or the Department for Work and Pensions on the implementation of social security provisions or contributions from nationals of other EU member states for Bulgaria and Romania.

UN World Conference Against Racism

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals the Government have made on the agenda for the 2009 UN World Conference Against Racism.

Meg Munn: The agenda for the 2009 UN World Conference Against Racism has not yet been discussed in detail. We want the Durban Review Conference to assess how states have implemented the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme for Action. There is pressure to include issues not covered by the 2001 document, which we are resisting.

Weapons: Proliferation

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the failure of the 2005 Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference to agree a final document.

David Miliband: holding answer 28 February 2008
	The UK worked hard to achieve an agreed final document at the 2005 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. In a multilateral forum, reliant on consensus, extended procedural delays can prejudice a substantive outcome even when the majority of states present are committed to achieving real advances. Regrettably, in 2005 a delay often days to agree the Review Conference agenda meant there was not enough time to negotiate a substantive final document. UK policy and priorities for the 2010 NPT review cycle are set out in the reply I gave to the right hon. Member on 18 February 2008,  Official Report, column 176W.

Zimbabwe

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral answer of 19 February 2008,  Official Report, column 140, on Zimbabwe, when he plans to turn to the role of the government of Zimbabwe in the case of Mr. Simon Mann; for what reason a formal protest has not been made to that government in relation to the removal of Mr. Mann to Equatorial Guinea from Zimbabwe; and what assessment he has made of the likely inferences to be drawn by the authorities in Equatorial Guinea in relation to the absence of such protest.

Kim Howells: We have clearly noted our concern via diplomatic note to the Zimbabwean authorities about the circumstances of Mr. Mann's removal from Zimbabwe which occurred before his legal appeals were exhausted.

First Time Buyers

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps the Government has taken to increase the number of first time buyers entering the property market.

Iain Wright: The Government are committed to tackling the problems of housing affordability and last year announced plans to raise annual housing supply to 240,000 additional homes a year by 2016. The Housing Green Paper published in July 2007 "Homes for the future: more affordable, more sustainable" sets out further details of our proposals for delivery of those homes, to widen access to home ownership and help more first time buyers purchase a home.
	Through increasing the overall housing supply, the Government aims to address affordability issues, and the problems they can cause for aspiring first-time buyers, over the longer term. In the meantime, our low cost home ownership programme, enables social tenants, key workers and other priority first time buyers to get a first step on the housing ladder.
	Since 1997, we have helped over 95,000 households into home ownership through shared ownership and shared equity loan schemes. We have also helped over 26,000 key workers into a home since 2001.
	The HomeBuy scheme introduced in April 2006 includes three products: Open Market HomeBuy (shared equity), New Build HomeBuy (shared ownership) and Social HomeBuy. The First Time Buyers' Initiative scheme run by English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency, is part of the New Build product. These schemes help purchasers get onto the housing ladder with shares from 25 per cent.
	Between 2006-08 we are investing £970 million through the National Affordable Housing programme to help 35,000 households into low cost home ownership properties. The Housing Corporation announced its new programme on 26 February and will be funding at least 25,000 low cost home ownership homes a year from 2008-09 to 2011.

Heating: Environment Protection

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions officials in her Department have had with counterparts in the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs in advance of the forthcoming meeting of the Consulting Forum under the Ecodesign of Energy-using Products Directive on requirements for boilers and water heaters.

Iain Wright: holding answer 25 February 2008
	Communities and Local Government officials are in ongoing discussions about the Energy-using Products Directive with their opposite numbers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Local Government Finance

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many times her Department and its predecessors paid money to what was later found to be the incorrect local governmental body in each year since 1997; and what the total value of such incorrect payments is.

John Healey: Our systems do not separately identify adjustments to payments which arose because money was originally paid to an incorrect local government body. The regularity of payments made by the Department and its predecessors are subject to audit arrangements and these have not identified any systemic weaknesses or recurring problems in relation to correct payees. We would seek recovery of any incorrect payments, in line with "Managing Public Money"—the Treasury guidance (replacing "Government Accounting") which sets out principles and standards for government departments on managing public resources—and would look to address the problem quickly if errors were brought to light.

Regional Planning and Development: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding regional planning bodies will receive from housing and planning delivery grant; and what targets will they be required to meet to maximise their funding.

John Healey: All funding for Regional Assemblies from 2008-09 will be from a single funding stream; they will not receive housing and planning delivery grant.
	Regional Assemblies are required to prepare a business plan as a condition of their receipt of Government grant, to provide assurance that funds are spent efficiently and in furtherance of the aims for which funding is granted. Performance against business plans will be monitored quarterly.

Thermal Insulation: Materials

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment her Department has made of appropriate tests for the performance of multifoil insulation materials other than the hot box;
	(2)  what assessment her Department has made of the  (a) practical and  (b) environmental merits of multifoil insulation materials;
	(3)  how she plans to comply with the High Court judgment of 2 November 2007 on standards for multifoil insulation material used in construction.

Iain Wright: holding answer 22 February 2008
	The Government's position on tests of the performance of multi-foil insulation products and its proposals for complying with the High Court judgment of 2 November 2007 are explained in Communities and Local Government Circular 6/2007 and the parallel letter to local authorities and approved building control inspectors which were issued on 7 December 2007. These can be found on the CLG website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/
	The Department does not assess the practical and environmental merits of particular types of insulation materials, as building regulations and guidance do not make specific requirements for such materials. When issuing approved guidance on achieving compliance with the building regulations' energy efficiency requirements for construction work, it relies upon internationally recognised generic insulation performance values for construction materials and a wide range of expert advice on how these materials can be practically assembled into construction elements such as walls, roofs etc.

Fairtrade Initiative

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will take steps to promote Fair Trade Fortnight 2008 among staff within his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport provides tea and coffee for all official meetings from Fairtrade sources; Fairtrade confectionary is always on sale in the staff canteen. These are available all year rather than being confined to a short-term promotion exercise.

Sports

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the number of people who engaged in at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity level sport at least three times a week in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07, broken down by region.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Data from the DCMS' Taking Part survey shows the number of people who participated in moderate intensity level sport at least three times a week. The table sets out the data by region.
	The moderate intensity level sport indicator is defined as participation in moderate intensity level sport for at least 30 minutes on at least three separate days during the past week.
	
		
			  Moderate intensity, 3 x 30 minutes per week 
			  Percentage 
			  Region  2005-06  2006-07 
			 North East 21 23 
			 North West 19 20 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 21 22 
			 East Midlands 20 21 
			 West Midlands 20 20 
			 East of England 22 23 
			 London 21 20 
			 South East 21 22 
			 South West 23 24 
			 England 21 22

Sports

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 18 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 333-4W, on sports, 
	(1)  how many people each percentage figure in the tables represents;
	(2)  how many people each percentage figure in the tables represents.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Pursuant to the answer of 18 February 2008,  Official Report, column 335W, the tables show how many people each percentage figure represents, rounded to the nearest 10,000. The data is taken from the DCMS Taking Part survey.
	The moderate level intensity sport indicator is defined as participation in moderate intensity level sport for at least 30 minutes on three separate days during the past week.
	
		
			  Moderate intensity, 3 x 30 
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			   Percentage  Number (Thousand )  Percentage  Number (Thousand ) 
			 Black and minority ethnic 19.2 720 19.6 760 
			 Limiting disability 9.5 790 9.4 780 
			 Lower socio-economic 15.2 2,310 15.3 2,410 
			 Women 18.5 3,640 18.3 3,680 
			 All Adults 20.9 7,950 21.5 8,430 
		
	
	The active sport indicator is defined as at least one occasion of participation in an active sport during the past four weeks.
	
		
			  Active sport, 12 x a year 
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			   Percentage  Number (Thousand )  Percentage  Number (Thousand ) 
			 Black and minority ethnic 53.3 2,090 51.9 2,040 
			 Limiting disability 32.3 2,760 31.2 2,650 
			 Lower socio-economic 43.4 6,840 42.2 6,720 
			 Women 47.7 9,800 46.2 9,480 
			 All Adults 53.7 21,330 53.4 21,310

Sports: Lancashire

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will collect data on community club development programme funding allocated to sports clubs in West Lancashire constituency.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Community Club Development Programme (CCDP) is administered on Government's behalf by Sport England. Sport England does not collect data about CCDP in the format requested.
	Sport England allocates funding to 19 National Governing Bodies for Sport (NGBs) to identify and deliver capital sports facilities projects. Data about CCDP is not collected from the NGBs below County level.

Animal Experiments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what Government funds and resources have been allocated to research and development in finding an alternative to animal testing since 2001.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	Between 2001 and 2007-08 the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) provided £12,008,000 for research into the replacement, refinement and reduction of animals in research through response mode funding and strategic programmes. In addition, these Research Councils fund the National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NCSRs), established in 2004. Between 2004-05 and 2007-08 the NCSRs has received £5,525,000 from the Research Councils as well as £660,000 from the Home Office. The two Research Councils will provide 12,804,000 to the NCSRs for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11.

Internet: Departmental Responsibilities

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the distribution of responsibilities is between Government departments and agencies in relation to the regulation of the internet; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Government work closely with the internet industry and law enforcement, through such mechanisms as the Home Secretary's Taskforce on Online Child Protection, to ensure that their internet services are not used for illegal or boarder-line legal activity. The Home Secretary's Taskforce includes representatives from other Government Departments.
	The E-Commerce Directive lays down requirements that apply in relation to the provision of services on the internet. The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform is responsible for the E-Commerce Regulations 2002 which implemented the Directive in relation to legislation that predates the 2002 regulations. So far as legislation that post dates the 2002 Regulations is concerned, each Government Department is responsible for ensuring that its legislation complies with the Directive.

Internet: Regulation

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much she has allocated to policing internet content for 2008-09; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The police do not police the internet per se, the Government have legislated to prosecute offences based on the crime committed and not the medium used. Internet content is subject to the Obscene Publications Act 1959 as is all published material.
	The Home Office allocates core grants to police forces on an annual basis without stipulating where the grant should be spent.
	The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) also receives a budget for law enforcement work to tackle electronic crime. The SOCA budget also includes funding for the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP).
	In 2007-08 CEOP received a budget (from SOCA) of £5.657 million, it is yet to be confirmed how much they will receive in 2008-09.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government has taken to reduce levels of road tax evasion.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has in place effective processes to collect Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), making vehicle licensing requirements easier to comply with but harder to avoid.
	A comprehensive package of measures is employed to combat VED evasion. This includes targeted advertising, automated penalties generated from the record, use of debt collection agencies, deployment of enforcement officers and use of automatic number plate recognition to detect and prosecute users of unlicensed vehicles. In addition, DVLA and its police and local authority enforcement partners take direct roadside enforcement action to wheel clamp and impound unlicensed vehicles.
	The most recent roadside survey of VED evasion estimates that 98.5 per cent. of duty payable in 2007 was successfully collected.

Railway Stations: Sight Impaired

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government has taken to make train stations user-friendly for blind people.

Rosie Winterton: Since the launch of the Railways for All Strategy in March 2006 Access for All funding has been used to support a variety of accessibility improvements that will benefit visually impaired passengers at more than 270 stations. Schemes have included improvements to public address systems, tactile paving, lighting, stair handrails and colour contrasting.

Railway Stations: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent steps the Government has taken to improve accessibility of train stations in the West Midlands.

Rosie Winterton: Since the launch of the Railways for All Strategy in March 2006 Access for All funding has been used to support a variety of accessibility improvements including accessible toilets, customer information systems and hearing induction loops, at 61 stations in the West Midlands. The Department for Transport has contributed £1.2 million towards projects totalling £3.1 million.
	In addition, £160 million was announced by the department earlier this month for improvements to passenger capacity and access at Birmingham New Street Station. This is in addition to the £128 million of funding pledged by the department last year.

Sea Rescue: Ireland

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on how many occasions the  (a) Republic of Ireland's coast guard agency,  (b) Irish air corp and  (c) Irish navy have been involved in marine emergency and rescue in United Kingdom waters in the last two years; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: According to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency records, in 2006 the Republic of Ireland's coastguard was contacted for assistance 206 times, and the Irish navy three times. In 2007 the coastguard was contacted for assistance 209 times and the Irish navy on one occasion. The Irish Air Corp was not used in either year.

Trains: Fuels

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration her Department has given to the merits of low-cost ultra-light rail fuelled by bio-methane made locally from anaerobically digested organic waste; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department has not made such an assessment. We are aware of the claims made for the potential benefits of Ultra Light Rail, but in order to properly assess these, we would need to see a business case supporting its application in a specific location. Local authorities are welcome to submit innovative proposals to the Department for funding as pilot or demonstration schemes within the major scheme funding regime. During 2006, the Department part-funded a research project to assess the potential role of biomethane as a renewable transport fuel, although this did not examine it's potential in Ultra Light Rail specifically. A copy of this report has been made available in the House Libraries.

Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund: Braintree

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which projects in Braintree constituency have been funded by the aggregates levy sustainability fund; and what the value is of each project.

Jonathan R Shaw: A breakdown by constituency is not available, but the information requested, for the county of Essex, is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Aggregates levy sustainability fund projects in Essex 
			  Project title  Grant (£) 
			 Access for all Rainham Marshes 34,999 
			 Aldham Parish Council - Basketball equipment 3,000 
			 Belhus Cricket Club - New equipment 3,000 
			 Bell Tower Community Centre Project, Great Waltham/Ford End 6,650 
			 Berwick Woods - Footpath improvements 53,783 
			 Boardwalk at Rainham, Wennington and Aveley - RSPB nature reserve 6,318 
			 Building for the New Millennium, Little Tey 10,400 
			 Chafford Gorges - Visitor guide 3,359 
			 Chigborough Lakes 2,579 
			 Cleaner Village - Purchase of a road sweeper , Silver End 500 
			 Colne Estuary area community access and biodiversity 22,986 
			 Copford with Easthorpe Parish Council - Play equipment 2,000 
			 Danbury - Surface front carpark area 2,860 
			 Danbury Parish Council - Play area and Dawson Field 1,190 
			 Eastern Waste - Crushing, screening and infrastructure, Brightlingsea 226,920 
			 Elsenham Parish Council play area -Replacement sings and teen shelter 7,500 
			 Erection of Rabbit proof fencing around Ardleigh Recreation Ground 5,437 
			 Exploring and understanding Gosfield Pits 3,500 
			 Felsted Memorial Hall redecoration and repair 6,500 
			 Fingringhoe Wick interpretation 17,228 
			 Fingringhoe Wick signs and interpretation 5,070 
			 Grassland management and visitor facilities, Old Hall Marshes 7,299 
			 Greater Thames survey of known mineral extraction 168,639 
			 Grove Road play area - Play equipment, Tiptree 6,011 
			 Grove Road play area - Provision of a Spacenet, Tiptree 10,400 
			 Hall Marsh - Wet grasslands for wildlife and people 65,000 
			 Hatfield Peverel Parish Park - Biodiversity report 1,500 
			 Lodge Farm, St. Osyth,- Archaeology 393,731 
			 Martins Farm Parish Park 3,000 
			 Messing cum Inworth Parish Council - Finger post 2,856 
			 Messing cum Inworth Parish Council - Playground 3,500 
			 Play area refurbishment, Danbury 8,810 
			 Play equipment, Bradwell 6,000 
			 Play Equipment, Fingringhoe 3,670 
			 Priory Meadow recreation and play area 06-07, St. Osyth 5,500 
			 Priory Meadow recreational and play area, St. Osyth 15,000 
			 Provision of floodlighting to multipurpose sports facility, Pleshey 3,000 
			 Rainham Marshes RSPB 35,000 
			 Rainham, Wennington and Aveley Marshes RSPB Nature Reserve 22,000 
			 Rebekah May Birch - Community Wildlife Garden 4,970 
			 Removal of Pennywort from the Chelmer and Blackwater River Basins 16,000 
			 RSPB - Enhancement of Lapwing Breeding and Feeding, Tollesbury 5,933 
			 RSPB - Rainham Marshes Community Consultation 750 
			 School Grounds Development and Secret Garden, Rowhedge 900 
			 Shenfield Church butterfly meadow 2,500 
			 Soil washing facility- Eco Aggregates Ltd, Springfield 602,239 
			 Stansted Hall Cricket Club - Purchase of equipment and upgrade of facilities 5,274 
			 Table-top interpretation, Hatfield Forest 8,000 
			 Thames Chase Feasibility Study 1,000 
			 Thames Chase Forest Centre 150,000 
			 The Draqonflies of Essex (Book) 1,000 
			 The finest prospect in all England: a history of South Essex 49,494 
			 Upgrading of Parish Councils grass cutting machinery, Sandon 6,000 
			 Water and Mink Monitoring Project in Thurrock 7,308 
			 Wildlife Walk, Accessible Pathway and Self Guided, Epping Forest 3,000 
			 Youth Shelter Provision, Langham 7,275

Departmental Information Officers

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department paid in bonuses to press and communication officers in each of the last 10 years; and what the  (a) highest and  (b) lowest such bonus was in each of those years.

Jonathan R Shaw: Government policy is that a civil servant's pay should reflect their outputs, results and performance.
	For the senior civil service (SCS), departments and agencies are responsible for their own reward arrangements within a framework set by Cabinet Office. Below the SCS, departments have delegated authority to tailor reward packages to meet their own business needs.
	Under current arrangements, bonuses are used to reward excellent performance during the year, and are based on a judgement of how well an individual has performed relative to their peers.
	Performance related pay schemes encourage high attainment because bonuses have to be earned each year. They help drive high performance in departments and agencies and support better public service delivery.
	The data requested for bonuses paid in DEFRA and its agencies is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			   2005  2006  2007 
			 Total 9,786.00 21,662.00 14,950.00 
			 Min 350.00 250.00 200.00 
			 Max 1,299.00 6,000.00 750.00 
		
	
	The information covers people in core-DEFRA and the following DEFRA Executive Agencies: Animal Health, Pesticides Safety Directorate, Veterinary Medicines Directorate, Marine Fisheries Agency, Government Decontamination Service. It does not include payments made by DEFRA's agencies that have taken pay delegation (Central Science Laboratory, Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Rural Payments Agency and Veterinary Laboratories Agency).
	Please note that data prior 2005 is available at disproportionate cost only, as a result of system changes.

Electricity

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what total quantity of electricity in kilowatts was consumed by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) can confirm that annual electricity consumption from buildings on the DEFRA and Executive Agency estate for which we have contractual responsibility for electricity use are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Electricity Consumption (kWh) 
			   2005-06  2004-05  2003-04  2002-03 
			 DEFRA 15,647,140 17,273,446 15,438,600 15,958,300 
			 MFA (formed in 1 Oct 2005)(1) 164,083 — — — 
			 SVS (now Animal Health) 3,358,863 — — — 
			 BCMS (joined RPA in 2003) — — — 1,132,322 
			 RPA 8,556,851 7,637,183 7,998,271 7,427,798 
			 CEFAS 5,148,877 5,152,393 5,080,351 5,063,448 
			 CSL 13,701,553 13,210,227 11,932,201 12,205,053 
			 VLA 12,786,601 10,162,812 10,905,900 9,884,741 
			 TOTAL 59,363,968 53,436,061 51,355,323 51,671,662 
			 (1) Consumption is total for 2005-06, we are unable to split the data before and after the Agency was formed. 
		
	
	Sustainable Development Commission are verifying government data for 2006-07 which is expected to be published in March.

Fisheries: Quotas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the catch composition of the catch from vessels involved in the Irish Sea Discard Pilot has been; what the difference between the catch composition and the quota allocation has been; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: Data from the initial period of the pilot project is being compiled by scientists in the UK and Ireland and is not yet available.

Fisheries: Quotas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what cross-year quota swaps he has made affecting the amount of quota available to the 10 metre and under fleet in 2008; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what in-year and cross-quota swaps he has made in each International Council for the Exploration of the Sea Area affecting the quota available for the 10 metre and under fleet in 2008; what economic assessment he has made of such swaps; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Marine and Fisheries Agency has explored, and will continue to explore, all options to acquire additional quota for the inshore fleet through domestic and international swaps, and via quota contributed to the 10 m and under quota allocations by producer organisations under economic link arrangements. A key determinant on whether or not a swap is agreed is if there is economic benefit for the UK in making the swap. Based on this, two international cross-year swaps have been completed with Germany and the Netherlands to acquire an additional 150 tonnes of valuable North sea sole quota in 2008 for inshore fishermen operating in the southern North sea. Additionally, similar cross year swaps have been agreed to gain 38 tonnes of North sea Whiting and 26 tonnes of Irish sea Plaice for the inshore fleet. Other international swaps have also taken place. These will not have been carried out for the specific benefit of the inshore fleet. However, the inshore fleet will have benefited in many instances from a share of the extra fish gained for the UK as a whole.

Fisheries: Quotas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to carry out any quota swaps that would alter the availability of quota for the 10 metre and under fleet in Area Vlle; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Marine and Fisheries Agency will explore all possibilities to gain extra quota, including swaps, to enhance the quota allocation for the 10 m and under fleet in Area Vlle, as elsewhere, for stocks where additional quota is needed.

Fisheries: Quotas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 February 2008,  Official Report, column 1288W, on fisheries: quotas, whether the draft quota management change programme proposals suggested the decommissioning of 10 metre and under vessels.

Jonathan R Shaw: Decommissioning a proportion of the 10 m and under fleet was one of the proposals under consideration in the context of the quota management change programme.

Intimidation

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases of bullying have been reported in  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last 12 months.

Jonathan R Shaw: In the last 12 months, five cases of bullying have been reported in the Department and five cases of bullying have been reported by its agencies.
	The Department has in place an internal equal opportunities complaints procedure on how to address bullying in the work place. In the last three months, DEFRA has reorganised support mechanisms available to staff who perceive bullying in the workplace, re-launching an in-house trained pool of harassment, bullying and support advisors and an in-house mediation service.
	DEFRA also provides an employee support service, a free telephone service that provides confidential advice and counselling to all DEFRA employees on work-related or personal problems.
	Information on "support mechanisms" and the formal procedure for dealing with bullying in the work place is available on the intranet site and is accessible to all staff.

River Colne

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent deaths of fish on the River Colne; how many fish have died; and what steps he has taken to determine the cause of death.

Jonathan R Shaw: On 8 February 2008, the Environment Agency received reports of fish deaths on the River Colne (which flows through Huddersfield in West Yorkshire) and investigated immediately. Initially, only stone loach were affected. However, as the event progressed, larger fish including trout and grayling, were also found to be dead or dying. Samples were taken by Environment Agency officers and these are currently being analysed at its laboratory. Early analysis has not detected any pollutant which would have caused a fish kill. However, the Environment Agency believes that a spillage of pollution probably entered the river on 7 February and was slow-acting in nature.
	A follow-up survey found 893 dead stone loach, two dead minnows, 57 dead trout and 10 dead grayling in 1.1 km of river. The survey reported live fish and invertebrates in the affected reaches indicating that life in the river is recovering.

Rural Areas: Housing

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made as part of the feasibility study for a rural affordable housing fund since August 2007.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 26 February 2008
	As part of its preparations for the comprehensive spending review (CSSR), during the summer of 2007, DEFRA asked the Housing Corporation to provide advice on the feasibility of a potential revenue funding programme to support activity to improve the delivery of affordable rural housing at local level. We always made it clear that this would be considered in the light of the CSR settlement.
	That advice has now been carefully considered. However, given the Government's undertakings on increases in housing supply generally—which will benefit rural as well as urban areas—we have concluded that the value of a small Challenge Fund would not be enough to merit a switching of resources away from other priority areas of DEFRA's business.
	The Government have already set out proposals to increase the supply of housing and will be allocating £8.4 billion across the regions over the next three years. The Housing Corporation will be tasked with spending this money most effectively. The Government's, long-term housing supply and affordability public service agreement (PSA) target specifically covers rural as well as urban affordability.
	In addition, the Housing Green Paper sets out the Government's intention to establish a national target for rural affordable housing. The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) is in the process of developing this target, based on advice from the regional assemblies and the Housing Corporation. It is much more important to ensure that these measures work for rural areas, rather than to focus attention on small packets of funding from DEFRA.
	Together with CLG, we remain committed to addressing the affordable rural housing problem. At a national level, the policies and funding to deliver are largely in place, but we want to ensure that it feeds through into delivery.
	That is why my hon. Friend the Prime Minister has asked the hon. Member for Truro and St. Austell (Matthew Taylor) to carry out a review to find out how land use and planning can better support business and deliver affordable housing in rural areas. The hon. Member will report to both DEFRA and CLG in the summer.

Abortion

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department last undertook a review of international research evidence on  (a) the upper time limit for abortions and  (b) conditions for obtaining an abortion in each country in the European Union; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department is commissioning the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to review all research evidence on abortion, to update their guidance on "Termination of pregnancy for foetal abnormality. Foetal awareness," and the "Care of women requesting induced abortion."
	Legislative conditions for obtaining an abortion in the European Union is a matter for individual member states.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many admissions to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis via accident and emergency departments there were in  (a) the former Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority area,  (b) the East of England Strategic Health Authority area,  (c) the West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust area and  (d) the Suffolk Primary Care Trust area in each year since 1997; [Official Report, 19 May 2008, Vol. 476, c. 2MC.]
	(2)  how many admissions to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis via accident and emergency departments involving children under the age of 18 years there were in  (a) the former Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority area,  (b) the East of England Strategic Health Authority area,  (c) the West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust area and  (d) the Suffolk Primary Care Trust area in each year since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: The following table shows finished in-year admission episodes where the patient was admitted via accident and emergency departments with an alcohol-related primary or secondary diagnosis. This is broken down by age and by the patient's primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority (SHA) of residence and West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust. The latest available data is for 2006-07.
	
		
			   East of England SHA area( 1)  of residence  Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA of residence  Suffolk PCT area of residence  West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust 
			   Under 18  18 and over  n/k  Under 18  18 and over  n/k  Under 18  18 and over  n/k  Under 18  18 and over  n/k 
			 2006-07 497 9,522 6 203 4,700 * 37 1,124 * 13 562 * 
			 2005-06 485 8,970 * 242 4,357 * 50 924 * 22 388 * 
			 2004-05 538 7,945 * 258 3,680 * 85 1,315 * 37 377 * 
			 2003-04 498 6,682 * 235 3,461 * 83 953 * 29 331 * 
			 2002-03 440 5,223 * 196 2,607 * 61 850 * 15 267 * 
			 2001-02 458 5,006 * 196 2,463 * 83 663 * 18 236 * 
			 2000-01 432 4,776 51 207 2,267 48 66 617 * 18 207 * 
			 1999-2000 487 4,901 * 212 2,423 * 57 612 * 16 181 * 
			 1998-99 410 4,636 7 188 2,316 * 55 598 * 8 184 * 
			 1997-98 467 4,824 * 208 2,293 * 58 559 * 17 179 * 
			 Total — — 67,287 — — 32,771 — — 8,852 — — 3,107 
			 (1) East of England SHA area includes the following historic organisations: Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA Essex SHA Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA.  Notes:  Finished in-year admissions: A finished in-year admission is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider, excluding admissions beginning before 1 April at the start of the data year. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  Data Quality: HES are compiled from data sent by over 300 national health service trusts and PCTs in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.  Assessing growth through time: HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards, During the years that these records have been collected, the NHS there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.  All Diagnoses count of Mentions: These figures represent a count of all mentions of a diagnosis in any of the 14 diagnosis fields in the HES data set. Therefore, if a diagnosis is mentioned in more than one diagnosis field during an episode, all diagnoses are counted.  Diagnosis Codes Used: F10 - Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol K70 - Alcoholic liver disease T51 - Toxic effect of Alcohol  Ungrossed Data: Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).  Low Numbers: Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between 0 and 5 have been suppressed and replaced with "*" (an asterisk).  PCT and SHA Data Quality: PCT and SHA data was added to historic data years in the HES database using 2002-03 boundaries, as a one-off exercise in 2004. The quality of the data on PCT of treatment and SHA of treatment is poor in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99, with over a third of all finished episodes having missing values in these years. Data quality of PCT of general practitioner (GP) practice and SHA of GP practice in 1997-98 and 1998-99 is also poor, with a high proportion missing values where practices changed or ceased to exist. There is less change in completeness of the residence-based fields over time, where the majority of unknown values are due to missing postcodes on birth episodes. Users of time series analysis including these years need to be aware of these issues in their interpretation of the data.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the Information Centre for health and social care.

General Practitioners: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of people had a consultation with their GP within 48 hours of requesting an appointment in Bexley borough in the latest period for which information is available.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not collected in the format requested. Data is held at primary care trust (PCT) level, not constituency or borough level. The general practitioner (GP) Patient Survey 2007 showed that 84 per cent. of people living in Bexley Care Trust area reported having a consultation with their GP within 48 hours of requesting an appointment, compared with a national figure of 86 per cent. 2007 is the latest period for which data is available.
	The public service agreement target is for all patients to have the opportunity to see a GP within 48 hours. GP practices that achieve national access standards as measured by the results of the national GP Patient Survey are rewarded. Using the survey data, PCTs are working with local practices to deliver improvements in GP access in areas with the poorest reported satisfaction.

General Practitioners: Kent

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many GP super clinics he plans to establish in Kent.

Ben Bradshaw: Following the announcement by Secretary of State (Alan Johnson) on 10 October 2007, to invest new resources into primary medical care, every primary care trust (PCT) in the country will be procuring a new general practitioner-led health centre during 2008-09. This includes the three PCTs in Kent.

General Practitioners: Working Hours

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many letters his Department received from people asking for general practitioner surgeries to open for longer hours in the last period for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: Since 1 October 2007 the Department has received 86 letters from members of the public that supported extended opening hours for general practitioner (GP) practices. In addition, patient surveys and public discussions have consistently told us that improving access to GP services should be a priority for the national health service.
	Last year's GP patient survey (the largest of its kind) showed that 16 per cent. of people were unhappy with the opening hours of their GP practice: that's nearly six and a half million unsatisfied patients.

Health Services: Cancer

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2008,  Official Report, columns 464-6W, on the , what his estimate is of the costs of  (a) community rehabilitation and care,  (b) additional monitoring and treatment,  (c) ambulatory care and (d) programme management and monitoring in each of the next five financial years.

Ann Keen: The estimated costs of community rehabilitation and care, additional monitoring and treatment, ambulatory care and programme management and monitoring for the next five financial years are in the following table. Estimated costs for additional monitoring and treatment and ambulatory care are not available separately as the additional treatment may occur in a number of non-inpatient settings including ambulatory care.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Community rehabilitation and care  Additional monitoring, treatment and ambulatory care  Programme management and monitoring 
			 2008-09 5.6 25.3 5.0 
			 2009-10 10.2 46.3 5.0 
			 2010-11 17.5 79.9 5.0 
			 2011-12 26.8 122.1 5.0 
			 2012-13 39.6 180.6 5.0

Health Services: Overseas Visitors

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the  (a) number and  (b) cost of finished consultant episodes of treatment given to citizens of other European Economic Area member states in the UK in 2006-07.

Dawn Primarolo: Data from Leeds Primary Care Trust, who collect data from national health service trusts on the number of overseas visitors to the United Kingdom from bilateral health care agreement countries, shows that in 2006-07, 5,766 European Economic Area (EEA) citizens were treated on the NHS of which 5,033 were visitors and 733 were referrals. Cost of treatment totalled £15,051,634 of which £10,585,167 was for visitors and £4,466,467 was for referrals. The way in which the NHS collects this data means that it cannot be broken down by consultant episode.
	However, those EEA citizens who are in the UK on a more long term basis, for example to work or to study, or because they are now ordinarily resident in the UK, are not included. Successive Governments have not required the NHS to provide these statistics.

Health Services: Overseas Visitors

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) citizens of other European Economic Area (EEA) member states who received health treatment in the UK and  (b) UK citizens who received health treatment in other EEA member states in 2006-07 under reciprocal health care arrangements.

Dawn Primarolo: Data from Leeds PCT who collect data from national health service trusts on the number of overseas visitors to the United Kingdom shows that in 2006-07, 5,766 European Economic Area (EEA) citizens were treated on the NHS of which 5,033 were visitors and 733 were referrals.
	In 2006-07 the UK was competent for the health care of approximately 164,000 pensioners living in other EEA member states. Due to the scale of the total claims that the UK received and because of the nature of the bilateral agreements that the UK has with some EEA countries, we do not have accurate figures of the total number of UK citizens treated in other EEA member states.

HIV Infection

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) mean and  (b) median waiting time was from diagnosis of HIV to treatment in (i) 2004-05, (ii) 2005-06 and (iii) 2006-07.

Dawn Primarolo: This data is not collected centrally.

Midwives: Student Wastage

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the dropout rate from midwifery degree courses has been at each institution offering such degrees in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: Information on what the dropout rate from midwifery degree courses has been at each institution offering such degrees in each of the last five years is not held centrally. This data will be held by each strategic health authority as part of their contract monitoring processes.

NHS: Ancillary Staff

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of staff in each acute hospital trust is classified as non-medical.

Ann Keen: Non-medical national health service staff comprises the entire work force apart from medical which is made up of doctors and dentists. The non-medical work force includes all nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, all scientific, therapeutic and technical staff including all allied health professions, ambulance staff and NHS infrastructure support staff.
	The breakdown in proportion for each acute hospital trust is shown in the following table.
	
		
			Percentage non-medical staff 
			 RA2 Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust 87 
			 RA3 Weston Area Health NHS Trust 92 
			 RA4 East Somerset NHS Trust 91 
			 RA7 United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust 89 
			 RA9 South Devon Healthcare NHS Trust 90 
			 RAE Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 89 
			 RAJ Southend Hospital NHS Trust 91 
			 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 87 
			 RAN Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 89 
			 RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 88 
			 RAS Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust 90 
			 RAX Kingston Hospital NHS Trust 88 
			 RBA Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust 90 
			 RBB Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Disorders NHS Foundation Trust 96 
			 RBD West Dorset General Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RBF Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust 91 
			 RBK Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust 93 
			 RBL The Wirral Hospital NHS Trust 93 
			 RBN St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RBQ The Cardiothoracic Centre—Liverpool NHS Trust 93 
			 RBS Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital NHS Trust 90 
			 RBT The Mid Cheshire Hospital NHS Trust 92 
			 RBV Christie Hospital NHS Trust 92 
			 RBZ North Devon Healthcare NHS Trust 90 
			 RC1 Bedford Hospital NHS Trust 90 
			 RC3 Baling Hospital NHS Trust 87 
			 RC9 Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust 89 
			 RCB York Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RCC Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Health Care NHS Trust 92 
			 RCD Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust 90 
			 RCF Airedale NHS Trust 92 
			 RCU Sheffield Children's Hospital NHS Trust 89 
			 RCX The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Trust 90 
			 RD1 Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust 89 
			 RD3 Poole Hospital NHS Trust 90 
			 RD7 Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RD8 Milton Keynes General Hospital NHS Trust 90 
			 RDD Basildon and Thurrock General Hospital NHS Trust 92 
			 RDE Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust 90 
			 RDU Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 91 
			 RDZ Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 92 
			 RE9 South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust 94 
			 REF Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 REM Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 REN Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology NHS Trust 91 
			 REP Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust 92 
			 RET Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery NHS Trust 90 
			 RF4 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 RFF Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 90 
			 RFR The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust 92 
			 RFS Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 92 
			 RFW West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 86 
			 RG2 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust 87 
			 RG3 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RGC Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 89 
			 RGM Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 91 
			 RGN Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 95 
			 RGP James Paget Healthcare NHS Trust 91 
			 RGQ Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 90 
			 RGR West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RGT Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 86 
			 RGZ Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust 87 
			 RH8 Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust 91 
			 RHM Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust 87 
			 RHQ Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 90 
			 RHU Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 RHW Royal Berkshire and Battle Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RJ1 Guys and St Thomas1 NHS Foundation Trust 87 
			 RJ2 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust 89 
			 RJ5 St. Mary's NHS Trust 82 
			 RJ6 Mayday HealthCare NHS Trust 88 
			 RJ7 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 86 
			 RJC South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RJD Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RJE University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust 90 
			 RJF Burton Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RJH Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust 92 
			 RJL Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Trust 92 
			 RJN East Cheshire NHS Trust 92 
			 RJR Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 90 
			 RJZ King's College Hospital NHS Trust 83 
			 RK5 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust 93 
			 RK9 Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust 87 
			 RKB University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust 88 
			 RKE The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust 87 
			 RL1 Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital NHS Trust 92 
			 RL4 The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RLN City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust 91 
			 RLQ Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RLT The George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust 91 
			 RLU Birmingham Women's Healthcare NHS Trust 93 
			 RM1 Norfolk and Norwich Health Care NHS Trust 89 
			 RM2 South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RM3 Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 RM4 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 92 
			 RMC Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RMP Tameside and Glossop Acute Services NHS Trust 90 
			 RN1 Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust 91 
			 RN3 Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust 88 
			 RN5 North Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 RN7 Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust 89 
			 RNA Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RNH Newham University Hospital NHS Trust 87 
			 RNJ Baits and the London NHS Trust 84 
			 RNL North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RNQ Kettering General Hospital NHS Trust 90 
			 RNS Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust 90 
			 RNZ Salisbury Health Care NHS Trust 91 
			 RP4 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Sick Children NHS Trust 85 
			 RP5 Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Trust 92 
			 RP6 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 84 
			 RPA Medway NHS Trust 91 
			 RPC Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 87 
			 RPL Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RPR Royal West Sussex NHS Trust 89 
			 RPY Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 87 
			 RQ3 Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Trust 88 
			 RQ6 Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 RQ8 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust 90 
			 RQM Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust 84 
			 RQN Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust 85 
			 RQQ Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust 91 
			 RQW The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 89 
			 RQX Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 88 
			 RR1 Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust 90 
			 RR7 Gateshead Health NHS Trust 92 
			 RR8 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 RRF Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust 92 
			 RRJ Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust 92 
			 RRK University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust 90 
			 RRV University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 83 
			 RT3 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust 88 
			 RTD The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RTE Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 90 
			 RTF Northumbria Health Care NHS Trust 91 
			 RTG Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 91 
			 RTH Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust 87 
			 RTK Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RTP Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 90 
			 RTR South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 RTX Morecambe Bay Hospitals NHS Trust 92 
			 RV8 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 86 
			 RVJ North Bristol NHS Trust 91 
			 RVL Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 87 
			 RVR Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RW East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust 89 
			 RVW North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust 91 
			 RVY Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust 91 
			 RW3 Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RW6 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RWA Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RWD The United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RWE University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust 88 
			 RWF Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 89 
			 RWG West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RWH East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 89 
			 RWJ Stockport NHS Trust 92 
			 RWP Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RWW North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RWY Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust 91 
			 RX1 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RXC East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RXF Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RXH Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust 87 
			 RXK Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RXL Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Hospitals NHS Trust 92 
			 RXN Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 90 
			 RXP County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 91 
			 RXQ Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust 88 
			 RXR East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 90 
			 RXW Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust 90 
			  Notes: 1. Percentages are based on headcount figures. 2. Non-medical staff includes qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff, qualified ambulance staff, support to qualified staff and NHS infrastructure support staff. Non-medical staff excludes all doctors and dentists, general practitioners (GPs) and GP practice staff.  Sources: The Information Centre for health and social care Non-Medical Workforce Census. The Information Centre for health and social care Medical and Dental Workforce Census.

Obesity: Medical Treatments

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on  (a) obesity-related medication, equipment and treatment, excluding surgery,  (b) obesity surgery and  (c) secondary medical problems arising from severe obesity in the last three years.

Dawn Primarolo: Data on the costs of equipment and treatment within the national health service is not held centrally. However, we do know the cost of prescriptions for medication classed as drugs used in the treatment of obesity dispensed in England. The figures for the latest three years are shown in the following table (costs are net ingredient cost and are expressed in thousands of pounds).
	
		
			  £000 
			 Chemical  2004  2005  2006 
			 Diethylpropion Hydrochloride 0.156 0.306 0.341 
			 Mazindol 0.138 0.209 (1)— 
			 Orlistat 21,478.666 27,124.817 32,574.731 
			 Phentermine 0.406 (1)— 0.022 
			 Rimonabant (2)— (2)— 1,469.669 
			 Sibutramine 9,370.600 11,039.715 13,722.765 
			 Total 30,849.967 38,165.048 47,767.529 
			  Notes:(1) No record of drug being dispersed.  (2) Drug not available for prescription until 2006. 
		
	
	We can also provide figures for use of orlistat and Sibutramine in hospitals. These figures are derived at by pricing information on issue of medicines from a sample of hospital pharmacies and have been positively appraised by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. These costs do not necessarily represent what hospitals paid as hospitals can negotiate their own contracts. The figures are in thousands of pounds.
	
		
			  £000 
			  Chemical  2004  2005  2006 
			 Orlistat 232.275 287.327 290.619 
			 Sibutramine 62.751 74.421 76.427 
			 Total 295,026 361,748 367,046 
		
	
	We collect information on surgical procedures but are not able to provide the cost of these procedures. Also, while obesity is a known risk factor for a number of diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, gallstones and osteoarthritis it is not possible to determine what proportion of spending on such diseases is attributable to obesity.

Obesity: Surgery

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will increase the resources available to the NHS for surgical intervention in cases of obesity.

Dawn Primarolo: Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives, the Government's strategy for promoting healthy weight, published in January 2008, reaffirmed the commitment that local health services should provide surgical interventions for obese patients where it is deemed clinically appropriate. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has also provided clear guidance on the prevention, identification, assessment and management of overweight and obesity in adults and children. It is, however, up to local areas to decide the best types of treatments, including the level of weight loss surgery, to provide for their own populations, in line with NICE guidance.

Paramedical Staff: West Midlands

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many paramedics were employed in  (a) Tamworth constituency and  (b) the West Midlands in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: The information requested is not available in the format requested. However, data for the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority area, Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust and West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust as at 30 September 2006 has been set out in the following table.
	
		
			  National Health Service hospital and community health services: Paramedics in West Midlands Strategic Health Authority area by organisation as at 30 September 2006. 
			  Area / Organisation  Headcount 
			 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority area 940 
			  of which -  
			 Staffordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 222 
			  of which -  
			 West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust 718 
			  Source:  The Information Centre, 2006 Non-Medical Workforce Census

Primary Care Trusts: Finance

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the levels of capitation of primary care trusts; and what plans he has to increase funding to undercapitated trusts;
	(2)  for what reasons the Pace of Change funding programme for undercapitated primary care trusts is to be discontinued; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Pace of change policy for revenue allocations to primary care trusts (PCTs) is considered by Ministers prior to each allocations round. However, for the 2008-09 revenue allocations, the decision was made to freeze the weighted-capitation formula to give the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) the time it requires to finalise its review of the formula. Therefore, in 2008-09, all PCTs will be given the same uplift of 5.5 per cent. freezing the distance from target for each PCT. The flat-rate increase of 5.5 per cent. on each PCTs' 2007-08 revenue allocation will ensure that every PCT has sufficient growth in funding to honour their service commitments.
	Until the impact of the new formula on target allocations is known, it would be irresponsible to continue to move PCTs towards their target allocation under the current formula. Any new formula is likely to have an impact on the target allocation for some PCTs. Some PCTs may move from being under target to over target and vice versa. Giving all PCTs the same uplift avoids moving PCTs towards their current target allocation in 2008-09 and then having to reverse this the following year.
	The plan is to make allocations for 2009-10 and 2010-11 by summer 2008 based on a new formula. Pace of change policy has not been discontinued, and decisions will be made on pace of change for 2009-10 and 2010-11 once we have received ACRA's recommendations on the new funding formula.

Voluntary Organisations: Driving

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with representatives of  (a) the third sector and  (b) insurance providers on the personal insurance liability of drivers when they volunteer as car and minibus drivers for voluntary organisations;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on local authority provision of insurance for volunteer minibus drivers providing services within the third sector.

Phil Hope: In 2002 the Home Office Active Communities Directorate, which is now part of the Office of the Third Sector in the Cabinet Office, set up the Working Group on Insurance and the Voluntary Sector. The Working Group sought to address the concerns of the voluntary sector about the cost of insurance premiums. It included officials from Government and representatives from the insurance industry and the third sector. The work of the group included discussions on personal insurance liability for volunteer drivers. The working group met on a number of occasions and ceased its work in 2005. As a direct result of the groups work two documents were published to help third sector organisations address insurance issues. The first was a risk toolkit produced by Volunteering England and the second a document by the Association of British Insurers. Both provide advice on insurance for volunteers and the third sector. Copies of these documents have been placed in the Library.
	The possibility of local authority provision of insurance for volunteer minibus drivers has not been the subject of discussions with ministerial colleagues.

ICT: Training

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how much has been spent from  (a) the Capital Modernisation Fund and  (b) the New Opportunities Fund on establishing UK online centres in West Lancashire constituency since 2000; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: UK online centres were established by the then Department for Education and Employment from 1999. These centres are effective in reaching out to the most excluded in communities and have helped reduce the digital divide by providing individuals with access to the internet and e-learning..
	Nationally, £199 million capital funding was made available from the Treasury's Capital Modernisation Fund and £77.5 million revenue funding from the New Opportunities Fund (now called the Big Lottery Fund) to help fund UK online centres in deprived communities. Information is not held at constituency level and the details requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Students: Finance

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  if he will review the definition of taxable income as applied to the income of a student's natural parents, the parent's partner and the student's partner to exclude such part of a pension income as is paid to an ex-partner under a divorce settlement in developing future financial assessment policy for student support arrangements;
	(2)  when he will provide an answer to question 184399, on student support, tabled on 30 January 2008 by the hon. Member for Warrington South.

Bill Rammell: The assessment of a student's entitlement to financial support while attending a course of higher education is based on the student's household income. This is generally the residual income of the eligible student, aggregated with the residual income of the student's parents; or where appropriate the student's parent's partner, the student's spouse or partner.
	For the purposes of determining the residual income of an eligible student and the relevant people in the household, certain specified deductions are made from their taxable income. 'Taxable income' is defined in the Student Support Regulations as a person's taxable income from all sources computed as for the purposes of either (i) the Income Tax Acts; (ii) the income tax legislation of another member state which applies to the person's income; or (iii) where the legislation of more than one member state applies, the legislation under which the person in question is considered to be paying the largest amount of tax during the period covered by the assessment. Such taxable income includes taxable pension income.
	The Government have no plans to review the current financial assessment procedures.

Students: Loans

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what representations he has received proposing changes to the method of calculating interest on student loans since June 2007.

Bill Rammell: During the third reading of the Sale of Student Loans Bill on 23 January representations were made by my hon. Friends the Members for Nottingham, South (Alan Simpson) and Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) who suggested that the consumer prices index (CPI) should be used in place of the retail prices index (RPI) when determining the rate of interest on student loans.
	My hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Austin Mitchell) has also made representations on this matter in early-day motion 263 which suggests changes to the method of calculating interest on student loans.
	In addition the Department has received some 206 written representations since June 2007 about the student loan interest rate. We are not able to say how many of those proposed changes to the method of calculating interest.
	We do not believe that it is necessary to change the way interest is calculated. Student loans are not like commercial loans. The Government make no profit but subsidise the interest rate and absorb other associated costs. Interest is charged using a widely recognised measure of inflation, so students only pay back in real terms the amount they originally borrowed. This is achieved by linking the interest rate for student loans to the annual rate of inflation as defined by the RPI. The interest rate is recalculated each year at the beginning of September using the RPI figure from the previous March. This is the methodology that has always been used. Over time it ensures the student loan interest rate will be equivalent to the rate of inflation but with a time lag.
	For the vast majority of student loan borrowers, who have income contingent loans, any increase in interest rate will not affect borrowers' ability to pay, or the amount that they are liable to pay each month. Repayments are linked to the ability to pay and this amounts to 9 per cent. of earnings above £15,000.

Electoral Register: Greater London

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of people not registered to vote in each London borough.

Bridget Prentice: The Government have made no estimate of the number of people not registered to vote in each London borough. However, the Electoral Commission undertook a pilot research study in 2007 to examine possible methods for measuring the accuracy and completeness of the electoral register in Greater London.
	I understand from the Electoral Commission that the methodologies used in the London pilot were shown to be unsuitable for drawing firm conclusions about the integrity of electoral registers. This was particularly the case for borough by borough analysis, due to small sample sizes. The pilot study brought to light some key registration trends in Greater London; in particular, it estimated that 80 per cent. of those who were eligible, were registered. Due to small sample base sizes at the borough level, the data is not sufficiently robust at local authority level to provide reliable estimates.
	Recent changes brought about by the Electoral Administration Act have placed a greater emphasis on getting eligible electors registered. During the annual canvass, Electoral Registration Officers are required to take all necessary steps to ensure that electors are encouraged to register, which include sending the canvass form more than once, making house to house enquiries and inspecting other records that they are permitted to inspect.

Secure Training Centres: Restraint Techniques

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 201-02W, on secure training centres: restraint techniques, for what reasons the populations of all the institutions listed in the Answer of 28 January 2008,  Offi cial Report, column 150W, on secure training centres were not provided; and if he will provide these figures.

David Hanson: The previous reply gave details of the end-of-month population of the secure training centres. I am sorry that data on young offender institutions and secure children's homes were not included.
	The following table shows the end-of-month population for the period April-November 2007 for all establishments in the under-18 secure estate. This information has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board.
	
		
			  Establishment  April  May  June  July  August  September  October  November 
			 Hassockfield 57 56 58 55 58 56 49 53 
			 Medway 64 60 65 67 71 69 76 74 
			 Oakhill 51 57 57 49 42 51 46 47 
			 Rainsbrook 81 80 82 85 86 81 84 84 
			 Ashfield 320 349 348 344 344 367 372 357 
			 Parc 57 53 52 54 58 54 56 53 
			 Brinsford 129 149 144 142 149 158 156 134 
			 Castington 142 145 135 134 148 159 145 141 
			 Feltham 215 197 222 230 235 234 223 215 
			 Hindley 137 136 137 145 159 177 173 173 
			 Huntercombe 304 299 309 319 316 335 344 352 
			 Lancaster Farms 198 195 214 220 124 153 213 212 
			 Stoke Heath 163 176 175 182 198 194 137 140 
			 Thorn Cross 25 26 24 21 20 14 15 14 
			 Warren Hill 187 178 185 190 197 176 195 191 
			 Werrington 130 130 128 145 168 163 150 112 
			 Wetherby 278 295 310 328 335 328 335 345 
			 Cookham Wood 12 9 11 12 1 12 11 12 
			 Downview 12 15 13 14 15 16 18 13 
			 Eastwood Park 13 15 13 17 15 13 15 15 
			 Foston Hall 10 14 11 10 12 15 14 14 
			 New Hall 18 17 20 23 26 26 21 19 
			 Aldine House 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 
			 Atkinson Unit 10 10 9 10 11 10 10 11 
			 Aycliffe 28 30 30 28 28 31 28 26 
			 Barton Moss 20 17 16 20 20 20 19 20 
			 Clayfields 11 11 11 12 12 11 11 10 
			 East Moor 34 31 31 31 33 36 33 30 
			 Gladstone House 15 14 9 13 15 16 13 15 
			 Hillside 13 15 14 14 16 16 13 13 
			 Kyloe House 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 
			 Lincolnshire 7 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 
			 Orchard Lodge 17 18 18 18 19 18 18 17 
			 Red Bank 28 28 26 26 27 27 24 26 
			 Sutton Place 8 8 7 8 9 7 7 8 
			 Swanwick Lodge 10 9 7 10 10 10 10 12 
			 Vinney Green 20 21 19 19 19 21 19 20

Capital Gains Tax

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the introduction of a single rate of capital gains tax on  (a) mutual funds and  (b) insurance bonds before 9 October 2007.

Jane Kennedy: The Government takes a range of factors into consideration when formulating tax policy, and keeps all aspects of policy under review.

Customs Officers: Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs personnel were on duty at  (a) Belfast International,  (b) Belfast City and  (c) Londonderry airport on a routine basis during 2007.

Jane Kennedy: HMRC do not release the numbers of front line Customs staff that they deploy at a local level as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs' controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.

Departmental Data Protection

James Brokenshire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the review of data handling procedures by Kieran Poynter of PricewaterhouseCoopers will include an examination of potential data breaches connected with third parties hacking into computer systems of HM Revenue and Customs and other Government departments and agencies.

Jane Kennedy: Kieran Poynter was asked by the Chancellor to conduct an independent review of HMRC's data handling, the full terms of reference of which have already been made available on the HM Treasury website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/newsroom_and_speeches/press/2007/press_133_07.cfm
	and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
	An interim report was published on 17 December 2007 and the final report is expected during the first half of 2008.

Revenue and Customs: Data Protection

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2008,  Official Report, columns 675-6W, on Revenue and Customs: data protection, what training has been given to the new data guardians; and what estimate he has made of the cost of such training.

Jane Kennedy: Support for the HMRC data guardians has included awareness events, written material and access to additional support and guidance of departmental security specialists. The Department continues to assess any on-going training requirements which are funded from within the Departments budget.

Tax Credit Office: Administration

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2008,  Official Report, column 677W, on Tax Credit Office: administration, how many complaints were handled by the tax credit office in 2006-07.

Jane Kennedy: For the information requested I refer the hon. Member to the information published in Annex F of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) departmental report presented to Parliament in May 2007 (cm7107) and available on the HMRC website at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk

Taxation: Gaming

Clive Betts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average effective tax rate is for online bingo games.

Angela Eagle: The way in which information is collected by HMRC does not allow them to identify separately duty paid in respect of online bingo. It is therefore not possible to give a reliable estimate of the average effective tax rate on online bingo.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Andrew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the reasons were for the on-line tax filing self-assessment service being out of action on 31 January.

Jane Kennedy: A total of over 204,000 customers were able to file online on 31 January, a record number. The problems arose because of a rapid and unexpected rise in access to the online service over a short period of time.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Andrew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions and for what length of time the online tax filing service has been out of operation in the last six months.

Jane Kennedy: Between the 1 August 2007 and the 31 January 2008 the SA on-line filing service was out of operation on 19 separate occasions for an overall total of 113 hours. Ten of these disruptions and 62 of the total hours were for planned and essential maintenance and upgrades by either HMRC or the Government Gateway. Other disruptions to the service were as a result of technical failures.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Andrew Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps have been taken to rectify the problems with the online tax self-assessment system which occurred at the end of January.

Jane Kennedy: In April 2008 IT updates for the SA online system will remove the dependency on the infrastructure that failed as part of a planned improvement to the system. In addition, HMRC are reviewing their regime for performance testing of on-line services to improve the rigour around the testing of peak demands.